Butter fingers!

I was talking to my hubs and I had noted that the milk kefir did better with the Ronnybrook creamline milk that was only pasteurized, than with the regular store bought milk that was homogenized and pasteurized, so he brought me a present.  My darling husband came home with a gallon of local Jersey cow RAW milk.  Unfortunately, I also had just made my kefir, so I had to wait 48 hours (more on THAT knowledge later!) before I could mess with it.

I went to make my kefir up today, pouring all the cream off since it makes it a little harder for the kefir to process.  I was staring at my counter and thought "honestly, what can I do with that cream?  I don't have a churn or anything and I don't put milk in my tea most of the time, never mind cream."  A quick search yielded an answer:  Butta baby!  Shake shake shake.  Shake shake shake, shake your butter!  For at least 15 minutes. I used a smaller bottle so I didn't kill my arms but that meant I was at it for over an hour.  My result?
2ish quarts of skimmed off milk, 2 ish quarts of buttermilk (husband makes some freaking KILLER buttermilk pancakes.) and a container of butter.  This might be repeated weekly, or even biweekly if it makes superior kefir.

Now, the TIME your kefir ferments for apparently has a huge impact on your gut happiness.  If you ferment for only 24 hours, it has a milk laxative effect.  48 and it balances, and 72 and it will help bind you up.  Keep this in mind when you ferment!

Root-fir

I had decided that I didn't want to give up root beer entirely, but I couldn't justify the amount of sugar and fizz, so I got some of that awesome Sodastream concentrate, but the new "all natural" kind, since I abhor the taste of Splenda.  Oh, dear.  I might be hooked.  48 hours sitting using sugar in the raw as my sugar, and with 1/2 an eggshell in to provide the minerals my little factory, erm, grains, needed and BAM!  Have some awesomely carbonated water kefir.  Pour into re-purposed glass bottles, add the root beer, and let sit for 12-24 hours (not more, or they may pop, they're THAT fizzy!) then refrigerate.  Pop a top and enjoy.  Even the husband is enjoying it!

One major problem though.  My grains are trying to imitate rabbits.  First batch had 1/4c, it doubled.  I gave away 1/4c to my mom two days ago.  When I poured out my TWO  1-quart glasses, I had a cup, A CUP, of grains.   If you're local, you're welcome to some.  I'll GIVE em to you, because presently, I'll be neck deep in grains.

Side note:  My milk kefir arrived today, so I will be working on that, but apparently, it takes 3 cycles of 48 hours for it to bounce back.  What I'm supposed to do with the "discard" milk, I dunno, but I'm thinking "here puppies!" I've been told that kefir makes beautiful coats, easy shedding, as well as helping dogs with less than ideal digestion.  I've got one of them, so lets see how that works.

Kinda begs the question of can I give the water kefir to the horses and save copious quantities of money on probiotics and coat conditioners?  Le gasp!